The Liberal MPs who have spoken out against mention of the Charter of the French Language in Bill C-13 have undeservedly raised the ire of many in the French-language media, writes former QCGN president Marlene Jennings. Rather than accusing these MPs of spreading disinformation, critics “should focus their attention on the issues being raised.”
Columnist Michel C. Auger accuses the QCGN, Liberal MPs, and other community organizations advocating for English-speaking Quebecers of spreading misinformation about the Charter of the French Language amid the ongoing debate around the federal Bill C-13.
Contrary to what some political commentators have claimed, the attempt by Liberal MPs to remove mention of the Charter of the French Language from Bill C-13 was an attempt to correct a serious flaw in the bill that would have constitutional effects for linguistic minorities across the country, and not the act of a “crusade against French”.
“This is a major setback for the rights of English-speaking Quebecers,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig of the recognition of the Charter of the French Language within Bill C-13. The Standing Committee on Official Languages had rejected proposals from Liberal committee members to remove reference to the Charter in C-13, while proposals by the Bloc Québécois to further entrench the Charter into the Official Languages Act were adopted.
The Liberal proposal to remove mention of the Charter of the French Language from Bill C-13 was shut down in committee by opposition parties on Friday. “Despite the best efforts of many Liberal MPs led by Anthony Housefather, Patricia Lattanzio, and Marc Garneau, it is clear to us that the deck is stacked against English-speaking Quebec,” reads a statement from QCGN President Eva Ludvig.
The Quebec government wants the proposed federal language law reform to take a different approach toward the province’s English-speaking minority and francophone minorities in other parts of the country.
The province has sent 14 suggested amendments to members of a parliamentary committee currently studying the bill.
The Quebec Community Groups Network, a Quebec anglophone rights group, described the 14 proposed amendments as part of the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s “war” on the province’s English-speaking community.
“I would like to express our community’s deep disappointment with the federal government’s recognition of the Charter of the French Language as amended by Bill 96 in the Official Languages Bill,” QCGN President Marlene Jennings said in committee on Monday.
When it adopted the Charter of the French Language more than 40 years ago, the Quebec National Assembly embraced an enduring and essential commitment: to pursue the Charter’s objectives “in a spirit of fairness and open-mindedness, respectful of the institutions of the English-speaking community of Quebec, and respectful of the ethnic minorities, whose valuable contribution to the development of Quebec it readily acknowledges.”
Bill 96 fails to live up to this commitment. This proposed legislation represents a serious danger to the linguistic peace that Quebecers have worked so hard to achieve over the last half-century.
Quebec recently unveiled plans to make substantial changes to the Charter of the French Language through Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec. The purpose of Bill 96 is “to affirm that the only official language of Quebec is French.” It also affirms that French is the common language of the Quebec nation. Bill 96 pre-emptively invokes Section 33 (the notwithstanding clause) of the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which would shield the Charter of the French Language from judicial review. In a nutshell, Quebecers will lose their fundamental freedoms, legal, and equality rights in the application of the Charter of the French Language.
Non-francophones hold widely diverging views from French-speaking Quebecers on Bill 96, which aims to reinforce the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101).
A majority of anglophones and allophones also believe the debate over the proposed legislation will strain relations between the majority and minority communities.
“There is a reason for optimism here in that common cause could be built around opposition to the use of the notwithstanding clause,” says Marlene Jennings, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network. “Quebecers take enormous pride in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the inclusive, open and tolerant society we have built together. When what the Quebec government is proposing becomes more widely understood, my belief is that opposition to the use of the notwithstanding clause will increase.”
The QCGN is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
